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 How FinTechs Can Design Their Operations To Suit Gen Z Customers 

Emmanuel Nnaemeka
    Of the generations, Gen Z is the most tech-savvy and social media and internet-driven. In 2012, 94% of teens had an account. A decade later, it’s thought that only 27% of adolescents use the network. Leading corporations are attempting every new day to meet the demands of the teeming young and new generation population. In 2021, TikTok was the most used social media platform, beating Facebook and Google. Recent studies showed that Facebook has a problem because Gen Z believes it’s a stale old “boomer” platform. Even Mark Zuckerberg stated the obvious, that attracting younger users should become its immediate north star. With teenagers and members of Millennials moving into TikTok, the Facebook stock plunged $230 billion last year, and Mark Zuckerberg lost a personal wealth worth more than the entire GDP of Estonia. With this situation, there are so much more financial services can learn. 
Read more about Fintech
Who Are The Gen Zers? These are individuals that succeed the Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996). The Gen Z generation was born between 1997 and 2010, the eldest members celebrate their 25th birthday this year. This generation is seen to be a self-reliant, driven, realistic, and commercially savvy generation. Furthermore, they are digital natives, being the first humans never to have known life without the internet. This has set many up for early successes, leveraging the technology growing around them, mixed with their creativity, and eye for a side hustle. Born right in the Information Age, this generation consumes most of its information through the internet. They live most of their lives within and around their mobile phones. They are crazy about online business, NFTs, crypto, and are more inclined to take up a side-hustle. They are value-conscious, driven by instant gratification and are impatient with poor products and services. They have learnt a lot of financial lessons from the older generations – the boomers and the millennials – who suffered the Great Recession of 2008 and the pandemic. This has made them more pragmatic about their finance. While the older generation is insurance and savings-inclined, because they are either raising a family, running a business or planning their retirement, the Gen Zers are at their acquisition stage. With this information, FinTechs can weave their operations around the financial character and behaviours of this set of people, the Gen Zers.
  1. Think Mobile-first
While most millennials and previous generations visited banks to open an account, have metallic and plastic cards for deposits and withdrawals to execute transactions, with Gen Z, banking must up their games to create a new experience. 70% of members of Gen Z are engrossed with their finance and quick service delivery systems, thus, FinTechs must create 100% online banking operations. FinTechs must think of digital wallets and digital credit cards. Operations must revolve around the mobile device. According to statistics from Zopa and Target, 95% of Gen Z have access to a smartphone, 35% feel anxious away from a device for longer than 30 minutes, 68% are interested in opening an account solely online – the most out of any generation, 60% are keen to speak to support via an app. Therefore, FinTechs must optimize the mobile device on all fronts.
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  1. The TikTok Counselor
Gen Z is in a period of peer pressure and being influenced by social media. They are easier to influence compared to older generations. Being a generation that is extremely conscious about money and how to make it quick, members of this generation are increasingly in search of financial advisors. Enticed by the possibility of getting rich quick through NFTs or crypto, and with a 115% Year-over-Year (YoY) increase in interest in investment applications, Gen Zers are turning to their favourite platform, Tik Tok, for advice. “FinTok” is a trend rapidly growing in popularity. The hashtag #personalfinance alone has racked up over 4.4bn views. What does this tell us? The rate of financial literacy is on the increase with social media being the most viable source. This is an avenue for FinTechs and financial services, using their expertise and credibility, to build their tents in the wide space and influence the decisions of these people.
  1. Lending And Spending
Gen Z is not strong savers like members of the old generation. This is their time to spend. Although, they have been labelled the ‘cost-conscious generation’, Experian reports Gen Z showed the most debt growth of any generation between 2019 and 2020, with an average growth of 67%. This is another opportunity for FinTechs to create more lenders’ platforms targeted at this group. 
  1. More Of BNPL Platforms
Buy Now and Pay Later (BNPL) platform will be the new north star for the FinTech industry. As we have seen in the previous point, the members of Gen Z are in their acquisition stage, it is therefore, an opportunity for FinTech platforms to design their operations around BNPL. With difficulty in accessing credit facilities from traditional banks, Gen Z is gravitating towards digital financial services.  Several digital financial services carry BNPL services, they include, Spredda, Easybuy, CDcare, The Alternative Mall, Zoomba. Featured image source: 123RF
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